Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

43. Wish Bone Fish Bone This Bone

Early the next morning, I'm ushered out of bed, re-bandaged and practically force fed breakfast before Tsunami sends me out towards a nearby clearing to meet Kakashi for training. That woman has been falsely named. She should have been called Hurricane or Tornado.

"Ah, Maya, you made it." Kakashi's eye crinkles when he sees me, and I grimace back at him.

"I didn't think you were healed enough to get out of bed yet." Sakura frowns, fingers curling in the hem of her shirt.

"I'm not, really, but we're running out of time."

"Time for what?" Naruto asks loudly.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Maya will be joining us for training today. Of course, she won't be doing the same exercises as you. Maya, if you could just join Tazuna over there," he gestures to the edge of the clearing, "I'll give you your instructions once I've got these three started."

"Sure." I trudge towards Tazuna, adjusting my borrowed kimono as I go. It keeps falling off my shoulder, lucky I thought to wear a shirt underneath.

"You're looking better." Tazuna grunts.

"Yeah." I stand beside him and cross my arms, tucking my fingers in my sash.

"You don't have to stand you know." He says after a while.

"I can't sit down."

"What?"

"I can't sit down." I repeat, and understanding dawns on his face.

"Here." He stands and helps me wobble to the ground, before sitting back next to me.

"So, you hear about that whole dying incident?"

"Yup."

"You seem to be taking it well."

"Tsunami spend most of last night helping me to the bathroom because I kept throwing up."

"Oh. Not coping, then." He looks more than a little awkward, and rubs the back of his neck.

"No."

"It'll pass." He tries to reassure me, but I've heard it already.

"So I've been told."

"Have you met Inari, yet?" He asks, changing the subject.

"... The sushi?" I raise an eyebrow, and Tazuna scowls.

"My grandson."

"Oh. No."

"Good. He'd hate you." Tazuna takes a swig of sake, and before he puts the stopper back in I get a hit of a very fishy scent that makes my nose wrinkle.

"Thanks." I reply dryly.

"You want some? It'll help with the pain." He waves the bottle at me, noticing my staring.

"No, thank you. I don't like spirits." I shake my head and he shrugs and puts the bottle away.

"Your loss. Oh, I, uh, got something for you." He sticks his hand in his pocket and rifles around, looking for something.

"It's not sake, is it?" I ask suspiciously.

"No," he coughs a laugh, "it's not sake. Ah, found it," he pulls out a little paper parcel wrapped in string, small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, "here." He chucks it at me.

"Oh, thanks. Why?"

"It was your birthday, wasn't it? Musta been 3 days ago now, but I couldn't give it to you then because you were sleeping."

"Thank you." I say earnestly, staring at him. His words may be crass, but it still warms my heart that he remembered something so insignificant.

"You gonna open it any time soon or can I take a nap?" He demands, and I pull the string to open the parcel. Inside the brown paper is a tiny, delicate necklace. The chain is threaded on either side of a small pendant with small, white beads, and hanging from the centre is a fishhook, another white bead sitting in the curve.

"It's made from fishing line. The beads are made of fishbone. That hooks been filed down, so it shouldn't prick you."

"Thank you." I touch the centre bead reverently.

"You'll need someone to help you to put it on. They're not meant to come off." He doesn't look at me, instead purposely watches the training session.

"Will you do it for me?"

"Sure. Turn around." At the back of my neck, Tazuna's fingers fumble with the necklace, wrapping a length of wire around a small hook at the back.

"There."

"Thanks."

"I guess it's also partly a 'sorry I got you stabbed' present." He adds, and I laugh hard enough to strain my wound.

"If you two are finished," Kakashi's voice calls out, "I'd like to start Maya's training now."

"Just gimme a sec." I call back, and prepare to climb to my feet, when a gloved hand is held out in front of me.

"Here." I follow the arm up to Kakashi's face.

"Maya. What have you done now?"

A different face, from a different time. And yet, so similar.

"I - I - I fell!"

"Here, daddy'll help you up."

"Thanks." I smile and take his hand.

A/N: Yippee for random cutscenes! I also realised I have been spelling TAZUNA's name wrong this entire time and nobody told me, so screw you guys, now I've gotta go back and edit like 8 chapters. Oh well. Thank you everyone for reading and voting and commenting! You are literally the only reason I'm still writing this.

ALSO: accidentally deleted the part and I now know true fear I swear my heart stopped. Luckily I was on my mac and could just swipe back, copy it and paste it back to life. Still. FEAR

Ta-ta~